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At the turn of the new millennium, in an article published in Language Teaching Research in 2000, Dörnyei and Kormos proposed that ‘active learner engagement is a key concern’ for all instructed language learning. Since then, language engagement research has increased exponentially. In this article, we present a systematic review of 20 years of language engagement research. To ensure robust coverage, we searched 21 major journals on second language acquisition (SLA) and applied linguistics and identified 112 reports satisfying our inclusion criteria. The results of our analysis of these reports highlighted the adoption of heterogeneous methods and conceptual frameworks in the language engagement literature, as well as indicating a need to refine the definitions and operationalizations of engagement in both quantitative and qualitative research. Based on these findings, we attempted to clarify some lingering ambiguity around fundamental definitions, and to more clearly delineate the scope and target of language engagement research. We also discuss future avenues to further advance understanding of the nature, mechanisms, and outcomes resulting from engagement in language learning.

In this paper we introduce a new concept termed ''teacher immunity''. We propose that this immunity emerges from the accrued experiences of coping with disturbances and problems in stressful teaching environments, and that it functions as an indispensable protective armor allowing language teachers to survive the unavoidable hassles of classroom practice. We draw parallels with biological immunity and established constructs in psychology, while describing the development of this emergent immunity through the framework of self-organization from complexity theory. We further argue that, similar to biological immunity, teacher immunity can have potential negative consequences if it develops into a maladaptive form that is associated with a rigid and conservative practice as well as a general resistance to methodological change or innovation. Therefore, the article concludes by outlining how counterproductive teacher immunity can be ''rebooted'' through a three-step sequence that involves triggering the process through awareness raising, familiarizing teachers with productive coping strategies, and encouraging the formation of appropriate narratives that stabilize the transformation.

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In this article, we introduce a template of methodological considerations, termed "the dynamic ensemble," for scholars doing or evaluating empirical second language development (SLD) research within a complexity/dynamic systems theory (CDST) framework. Given that CDST principles have yielded significant insight into SLD and have become central to the concerns of applied linguists in many domains, we propose the need for a practical blueprint to ensure compatibility between its theoretical tenets and empirical SLD research designs. Building on "complexity thought modeling" (Larsen-Freeman & Cameron, 2008a), we present a practical catalog of 9 considerations intended to inform research design at multiple stages. We contextualize the 9 considerations of the dynamic ensemble by discussing how these have been framed and addressed within one previous CDST study. Finally, we address the issue of what practical implementation of this dynamic ensemble would entail and introduce several case-based methods for building off of the considerations in our dynamic ensemble. We hope that this user guide will help orient researchers interested in working within a complexity framework and spur continued methodological discussion in the field.

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Empirical research on possible selves proliferates in the literature on psychology, yet it is only in the latter half of the 2000s that possible selves were exploited in applied linguistics fields. Kubanyiova’s (2007, 2009) recent mixed-methods study introduced the concept of ‘possible language teacher selves’ as a construct through which to explore language teacher development. Aiming to add to empirical findings in the area, this qualitative study was conducted to investigate the roles that possible language teacher selves play in the teacher development choices of seven in-service Korean English teachers. Findings highlighted clearly constructed actual and possible language teachers selves. Lack of language self-efficacy was found to be near synonymous to lack of teaching self-efficacy for these participants, and the negative affect surrounding this lack of language self-efficacy emerged as the primary drive to engage in teacher development in this context. Two key motivational patterns of the participants’ possible language teacher selves emerged: teachers were either guided by a central need to repair perceived inadequacies of the self, or to enhance the self. A third motive, adhering to normative obligations, was found to be the least significant in driving choices for teacher development.